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I have a subordinate who has in the past expressed suicidal thoughts. His performance over the past 6-8 months has been unacceptable. He has numerous documented coaching and performance improvement measures taken without any notable improvement. Were it not for his predilection with suicide I'd probably let him go.
Any ideas/suggestions?
This is a very tough situation. There are several potential circumstances to take into account, from what if/optics perspectives to local/state/federal employment guideline/law perspectives.
Depending on the nature of his performance deficiencies, you may consider giving some type of leave, whether paid or unpaid. I ran into a similar circumstance, and our HR team decided he needed to take immediate leave for a month, utilize our mental health benefits, and come back with immediate and sustained improvement.
If you don't have a good HR team that is very familiar with local/state employment guidelines, you absolutely need to contact a local HR consultancy firm. And, make sure you ask them if they have significant experience with this type of situation and their outcomes. It's going to cost you, but I believe it will be money very well spent.
You don't want to see on your local news site that this guy committed suicide after losing his job at your organization.
This is what HR is for, in this case: HR IS YOUR FRIEND
This person is suffering from an illness which is affecting his performance. Most HR departments have access to, or can direct an employee to mental health services, which this person seems to be in desperate need of. Be prepared to replace him with a temp, as he may not be able to work while he's getting treatment.
UNDERSTAND THIS This is neither your fault nor your responsibility. Do not try to "save" him. If you are not a mental health professional, you can do more harm than good. He needs to be evaluated, assessed, and treated. That is not your job.
Notify HR about any suicidal tendencies he's expressed, and be as detailed as possible. Speak to them privately first and ask for guidance, then let HR reach out to him.
In the future, it should be all hands on deck at the first mention of suicide or depression, especially with the world being the way it is now. Someone who is suicidal can be a danger, not only to themselves, but to others as well, as the thoughts can turn towards workplace violence, so this should always be taken very VERY seriously.
TLDR
Get to HR right away, brief them on what's going on, and hand this guy off to them. Look into hiring a temp, because he may go out on disability for a while.
You talk to HR. If you don't have an HR department, get yourself an external HR consultant - you are dealing with someone who is suffering from an illness, and that always means you need to be careful about how you handle any dealings with them
I totally agree with going to HR. I wanted to add that we've been engaged with COVID for over a year now so I think I can assume this person bad days started in this period.
Rest of my answer is based on the assumption of that COVID changed working routine of this person.
I had this problem and I was severely depressed with dark thoughts and very bad performance, what helped me was my company allowed me to come to office for my work and that turned everything around.
For me (or many others) just going "out" for work gives some sense of purpose. In absence of that feel, mind plays dangerous games.
I understand that going to office is not the best health advice right now but this person is in more danger this way if in fact this is the case for him. Maybe offering him this option can help the situation.
My answer assumes that this individual was a good performing employee until just recently. First, don't talk about him being suicidal unless he specifically brings it up. You don't want to be dropping things about suicide as it might make you look like you were telling him to do it.
I do agree that going to HR is important here. I would also bring any evidence of his suicidal thoughts. It is important that you get these things documented now in the event that the unfortunate event occurs that your employee commits suicide. HR may have helplines and other things. It also protects you because it shows that you're noticing it and attempting to fix it.
If you are the owner of the company or just a small company, I would look into talking to a lawyer about the legal ramifications of knowing about a suicidal employee and what sort of legal repercussions there are, if any. There's a good chance if he commits the act, or if you fire him knowing he is suicidal about his job, then you could be sued in a civil court and his family could win a very large amount. Criminally, I do not think you have anything unless you're purposely making him suicidal and even then the law is fairly limited to what you can be charged with unless you're forcing him to perform some sort of action.
Aside from that, I think you can talk to him. Just put him in a private room and tell him point blank. "Jim, I notice your work is suffering and your behavior has changed. Do you want to talk about it?"
Perhaps making him go on a vacation for a time will help him out or perhaps if his situation is limited, you can assign him to lesser tasks until the situation rolls over. This is only if he was a good performer before whatever event caused him to degrade. It's totally up to you on how to handle that.
